Blast at Narayanganj mosque: Death toll jumps to 11

The death toll from the Narayanganj mosque blast climbed to 11 on Saturday morning.

Samanta Lal Sen, advisor physician at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), told this to the newspersons.

“Eleven of the injured died until 9:00am while most of the victims sustained 60-70 per cent burn injuries,” Samanta Lal said.

“Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has phoned me to ensure the best treatment of the injured,” he added.

Four of the deceased were identified as Baitus Salat Mosque’s muajjin Delwar Hossain, 48, Ibrahim Hossain 43, Jewel, 7, and Rifat, 18. All of them were from Paschim Talla area.

Fire service department and police primarily suspect the explosion could be due to leakage in gas pipeline and electric short circuit.

Around 50 devotees sustained burn injuries following a huge explosion at the Baitus Salat Jam-e Mosque in Paschim Talla area of Narayanganj around 8:30pm on Friday. Among the injured, 37 were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital in critical condition.

Some of the injured were treated locally.

Six ACs of the mosque were burnt in the explosion while widow glasses, sliding doors, fans and electric panels were completely destroyed. Five units of the fire service department doused the blaze erupted following the explosion after trying for half an hour.

A team of forensic experts of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) visited the spot at night.